School’s out. The kids are home. We’ve been to visit family and had family visit us. We’ve been swimming, eating popsicles, and watching the World Cup. I haven’t had a second of time or attention to write but we’ve all been making progress on our summer reading. I wanted to share two of my early favorites: Laura Purdie Salas’ Water Can Be… and Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover.

In a way Water Can Be… is exactly what it sounds like, a list of many forms and functions of water. But to think of it that way is to miss it’s charm which is its creativity. Laura has been incredibly creative in her thinking about all the things water can do; she’s been equally creative with her rhymes. For example, she writes, “Water can be a..Tadpole hatcher…Picture catcher…” If you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend it.

I also recommend The Crossover, Kwame Alexander’s novel in verse for kids 9-12. This isn’t a book about basketball. It’s a book about a boy who plays basketball whose life is getting complicated by his twin brother’s new girlfriend, his father’s health, and his own reactions to these challenges. I love all the complicated characters. I especially love the boys’ mom who is the assistant principal at school and does her best to give the boys guidance and limits. The collection even includes poems about interesting words like pulchritudinous and churlish. I recommended this book to a 12 year old boy who loved it. I hear from his parents that it’s now making the rounds among his friends.

I love Water Can Be, too! I have The Crossover on my reading “to do” list. I should get to it next week (I have 2 books in front of it). I have recommitted to taking time to read this summer and two books I read recently stand out: Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys (on the older end of YA) and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (YA) Both books engaged me from the opening page. I’ll keep you posted on other recommended reads. Keep your recommendations coming too, Liz, I love hearing about good books. Happy Friday! = )

So far I haven’t done much summer reading OR summer writing. Sigh. But I must add The Crossover to my list, and I’m glad your summer is turning out to be full of good news. 🙂

Comments are closed.

A Little About Me

I live in Washington, DC with my husband, two of my three kids (one has left the nest), and my sleepy cat, Scout. My book Soccer Nonsense is forthcoming from Boyds Mills Press. I am a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. When I get stuck with my writing, I go out for a walk for inspiration. You can see photographs from my walks on instagram at elizabethsteinglass.